Chapter Twenty-Three: Preparing on Both Fronts

Military provisions are lacking, so bread must suffice!

Xu Kang always made preparations with both hands, never placing all his eggs in one basket—especially when these "eggs" concerned his future and his very life.

"Though I don't need to defeat the Yellow Turbans myself, I must hold out until Huangfu Song wins. During this time, nothing must go wrong on my end!"

With this determination, Xu Kang threw himself wholeheartedly into crafting magical bread.

"Create food, create water… create food, create water… create food, create water…"

With tireless effort, magical bread and fresh magical water appeared endlessly from his glowing palms, soon piling up across his bed.

Seeing the bed covered, he immediately stored all the magical bread in his spatial pack, leaving only a heap of magical water by his bedside.

This was for replenishing his spent mental energy.

He hadn't forgotten the last time he collapsed into a deep sleep from overusing his spiritual power, so this time he took care not to repeat the mistake.

After creating one hundred magical breads and one hundred bags of magical water in succession, feeling his mind begin to tire, he stopped, opened a bag of magical water, and sipped it slowly, restoring his mental energy.

When the bag was emptied, his spirit was nearly recovered, so he began again with the "Create Food and Water" spell.

As before, he stopped after making another hundred magical breads, then drank water to recover.

While drinking, he couldn't help but muse,

"Damn, the mage's skills truly are superior—high efficiency, low consumption. With my current spiritual strength, I can make a hundred magical breads and a hundred bags of magical water in one go, but healing ten people would exhaust me entirely. I wonder if this mental power can grow…"

With that thought, during his third round of spellcasting, he kept a sharp eye out. After finishing a hundred magical breads and a hundred bags of magical water, he didn't drink immediately, but focused on sensing his mental state.

To his disappointment, it was no different from before—no change at all!

He sighed.

"Seems spiritual power isn't so easily increased. I should focus on making bread for now, and study mental strength later."

So he stopped overthinking, drank another bag of magical water, then continued the spell.

"Create food, create water… create food, create water… create food, create water…"

…

He didn't know how much time had passed; when he finally paused again, he chose not to drink magical water, but let out a long breath.

"Whew… That's enough for today!"

He patted his now noticeably larger belly, a wry smile on his face.

"Thank heavens my appetite is big, or I'd never manage so much magical water. Damn He Jin, you've turned me into a water barrel—I'm stuffed to bursting."

With that, he swept all the magical bread and water bags from his bed into the spatial pack, then slowly climbed down.

Once off the bed, he noticed the pile of empty water bags he'd tossed aside earlier had stacked up high beneath it—at a glance, nearly a hundred!

Staring at the heap, Xu Kang was momentarily stunned, then rubbed his chin in realization.

"Tsk… I didn't expect to drink so much magical water. But reality isn't a game; these bags won't vanish on their own. How should I dispose of them?"

He pondered the best way to deal with them.

His first thought was to give them away, but after considering, he dismissed the idea.

Whether soldier or officer, everyone had their own water sacs—much larger and more practical than his bags.

Since he couldn't gift them, disposal was the only option.

"Who knows what they're made of—not leather, nor plastic. Will they decompose naturally? If I toss them, they might pollute the environment. Better to burn them!"

He glanced at the brazier in the tent, picked up four or five empty bags, and threw them in.

Unexpectedly, the bags didn't ignite as he'd imagined, but sublimated like dry ice, emitting a plume of white smoke. When the smoke faded, the bags vanished completely, leaving no trace.

Xu Kang blinked in surprise, then his eyes lit up.

"Who'd have thought these water bags had such a property! That gives me something to reward my soldiers with!"

In this era, soldiers lacked belief; they needed tangible benefits to be motivated and fight bravely.

This was a common practice among commanders, the principle of clear rewards and punishments.

Though this was Xu Kang's first time leading troops, he understood the logic, so he'd been searching for suitable rewards to offset the morale damage caused by thin gruel and insufficient provisions.

Money was the simplest and most effective compensation—wealth is always desirable, in any age.

Unfortunately, all the coins Xu Kang obtained from He Jin had gone to buying his commission, leaving only gold ingots, silver bars, pearls, and white jade.

But these were few and too valuable to hand out directly, so Xu Kang planned to exchange them for coins once the Yellow Turbans retreated, then reward his bravest soldiers.

The question remained: what to use in the two months before the battle ended to steady the troops? Rely on the empty promise of thousands of bushels of grain he'd assured Zhao Hong?

That was out of the question!

Promises were only hope; they worked for a short time, but soon the soldiers would lose faith.

He needed a reliable token. Seeing the magical water bags evaporate into white smoke when burned, his mind became lively.

"The unique property of magical water can be used as a token to reward soldiers. Hmm… I'll experiment with magical bread first!"

He fetched a pair of scissors, picked up the empty water bags, and snipped away.

He didn't know how long it took, but soon the pile of nearly a hundred bags had become a mound of coin-sized round tokens, covering his entire bed.

After finishing the last bag, Xu Kang tossed aside the scissors and let out a long breath.

"Finally done. Now I can enjoy a good night's sleep!"

He found a wooden box to store the tokens, threw the leftover scraps into the brazier, and watched them turn to white smoke.

After finishing, he shed his outer garments and lay back down, closing his eyes to rest.

But before he could fall asleep, Zhao Hong's voice sounded from outside the tent.

"Sir, a eunuch from the palace has arrived and requests an audience. He's waiting outside the camp gate!"

"What?" Xu Kang frowned at the news. "Is that eunuch mad, coming to see me in the middle of the night? Tell him to wait—whatever he has to say can wait until morning!"

He rolled over, intent on sleeping.

To his surprise, Zhao Hong's voice came again.

"Sir, dawn has just broken; it's already morning. We should be packing up to depart."

"Uh…"